A band to keep an eye on.

Immediately after I picked up this album and read the words High Spirits for some reason I was immediately transported back to my youth as this was also the name of one of my favourite watering holes in the town where I grew up and had me dreamily reminiscing about the vibrant atmosphere of the place. And somehow vibrant is also the adjective that comes to mind straight away after listening to this Chicago based quintet’s debut release ‘Another Night’.

High Spirits play (ahem!) high energy hard rock that takes the incessant yet melodious riffing of pop-punk; overlays it with melody and harmony guitar lines - steeped in the traditions of classic rock bands like Thin Lizzy and UFO – and tops it off with sing-a-long choruses that just stick in your head even after a couple of listens. To my mind at least, the best way I can sum up the end result is the Foo Fighters without all the post-grunge angst.

There’s such an upbeat vibe to everything on the album that you can imagine standout cuts like ‘Another Night In The City’, the frenetic ‘Full Power’, ‘I’ll Be Back’ and ‘You Make Love Impossible’ having punters going completely ape shit when they’re played live, such is the kinetic energy they give off when they’re blasting from your speakers. ‘Nights In Black’ wrong foots you completely after the crisp guitar intro gives way to a funky bass line that’s so like Lipps Inc.’s 1980 disco smash ‘Funkytown’ that it had me thinking yikes it’s not a cover version is it? Thankfully, although the bass line remains, it turns out to be what has become one of my favourite tracks on the whole album. The band somehow stretch out a bit more and by holding back on the relentless riffing and adding more measured guitar textures they create a cracking melodic hard rock song.

If I’m honest there are a couple of fillers here and the production could do with a bit more punch but considering its a self produced effort it seems a little unfair to be overly critical as there’s plenty of talent on show that bodes well for the future. Certainly a band to keep an eye on and an album well worth checking out if you fancy a bit of rock with a feel good factor!

Alister Strachan